By Doug Freeman
Florida Scouting Director

Kissimmee, FL—This past Saturday, 50 talented unsigned seniors came to Osceola County Stadium to play in Florida’s first Unsigned Senior Games. The players ran through a pro-style workout, which included throws from the outfield, ground balls at shortstop and first, pop times from the catchers and batting practice. Following the pro-style event, the players were split into four teams playing two games in which each primary pitcher was able to throw two innings. 

Today we take a look at the infielder's from the Unsigned Senior Game.

 Luis Ezra. 1B/RHP. Calvary Christian Academy, FL (2017) 
The 6-foot, 190-pound 1B/RHP was one of the biggest standouts of the day. In the pro-style workout he showed good footwork around the bag at first and an above average glove and arm topping out at 85 mph across the infield. After watching him field both in the pro-style and in the game I would be interested to see if he could play third base as he seems to have the glove and arm to do so. Offensively, the left-handed hitter has a strong lower half and a very quick bat with an exit velocity of 94 mph. He showed a slightly uphill path with natural loft, feel for the barrel and pull side power. He translated the tools and batting practice to the game showing the ability to keep his hands inside the ball with a double down the right field line and a deep fly ball to right. He also pitched, running his fastball up to 83 mph. Overall he is a very intriguing left-handed hitter that could potentially play third, but the bat is what will take him to the next level. On the mound was raw. His fastball sat in the 81-83 mph range. Slider had some late downward bite. Did fly open and had some trouble repeating

Jose Varela. MIF. Somerset Academy, FL.
The physical 6-foot-2, 185-pound middle infielder was impressive all the way around on the day. He was the first infielder to go in the pro-style workout and overall the most impressive. He showed solid actions, working calm and under control while being able to come through the baseball with soft hands out in front of his body. He showed some first step quickness as well as an above average arm, with the best velocity of anyone at 89 mph across the infield. The actions work, but he may continue to get to big and strong to stay at short, but he definitely has the arm to play third. Offensively, the right-handed hitter hits from an upright stance with a small weight shift trigger. He shows a gap to gap approach with a feel for the barrel and quality slightly uphill path through the zone. There is not a lot of effort and he already generates a lot of bat speed, with an exit velocity of 95 mph, and present pull side power. There is a lot to like about how he goes about his batting practice and approach to the game. He shows present fel with tools and potential for more power to come.

Eldrige Figueroa. MIF. Oviedo HS, FL 
The 5-foot-8, 150-pound middle infielder showed above average actions at short both in the pro-style workout and the game. He looks confident and under control while fielding with good soft hands that work well out in front of his body and also showed an accurate average arm. He also made a next level type play on a diving backhand play in the 5-6 hole, then got up and made a strong accurate throw to record an out in the game. At the plate, the right-handed hitter he shows quick hands through the zone and a line drive swing. He still does not use his lower half and when he learns to do so he will be a solid all around middle infielder at the next level.

Here are the rest of the scouting reports from the remaining infielders at the event in alphabetical order: 

Tanner Alvarado, MIF,  Tampa Catholic HS, FL
The 5-foot-7, 150-pound middle infielder showed a quick first step with average hands that worked well out in front of his body during the pro-style portion. During batting practice, the right-handed hitter’s hands worked well, showing a short swing that was direct to the ball. There was some steepness in the swing during batting practice, but when he was level and on plane he showed the ability to hit line drives in both gaps. Stayed level in game producing a single. 

Mathew Chowning, 1B, Robinson HS, FL
The thin and lean 6-foot-6, 185-pound first baseman is long and projectable. At first he moves well and picked the ball well in game. He also shows an average arm topping out at 74 mph across the infield. The long limbed right-handed hitter stayed level through the zone in batting practice. There is some length in the swing and should utilize his lower half more to generate more bat speed and drive the ball in the gap. In game, he stayed level producing a base hit as well as an 80 mph exit velocity off of the tee. 

George De La Fe. SS. Calvary Christian Academy, FL
The stocky 5-foot-10, 175-pound shortstop was very solid at short both in the pro-style workout and the game. In the pro-style, he showed rhythm as well as working to and through the ball well, with good hands and a quick release. He continued to show the quick release in the game, making a nice play on a slow roller to his hand side at short. At the plate, the right-handed hitter has a strong lower half and uses it well. He does have a bit of an early load, but shows quick hands and a level line drive swing through the zone which produced an 87 mph exit velocity off of the tee. The combo of solid defense and a quick bat projects at the next level.

Luis Estevez. MIF. Robinson HS, FL
The 5-foot-10, 145-pound middle infielder showed good actions, working under control to the ball in the pro-style workout. His hands also work well, but he could get the glove down a bit earlier. Offensively, he shows a level swing from both sides of the plate, with a wider set-up from the left side. In the game he has two hits, a double and a single, both from the left side with a home-to-first time of 4.45 in the game. The swing works well and will improve as he continues to put on strength.

Hank Evans. 3B. Lincoln HS, FL.
The 6-foot, 195-pound third baseman showed quick choppy steps in the pro-style workout topping out at 73 mph across the infield. At the plate, the right-handed hitter raises the bat head up right on the load creating a long swing at times. He shows a strong and balanced lower half and when the bat stays level it worked level through the zone. He produced an exit velocity of 86 mph off of the tee and a triple in the game. 

Trey Fields. 3B/RHP. Lemon Bay HS, FL
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound utility player who worked out in the outfield, infield and as a catcher as well as pitching in the game. From the outfield, he shows an above average arm with a good release and accurate throws. In the infield, he has some stiff actions but again showed his good arm topping out at 85 mph. From behind the plate he ranged from 2.0-2.1 pop times, again with some stiffness but the strong arm makes up for that and gives him some room to shave a few tenths with improved flexibility. Offensively, from the right side he trigger with a small leg kick and lands on a slightly weak front side. Despite this, he still shows some pull side pop. From the left side he has a similar leg kick trigger and showed a better path through the zone with quick hands which led to a single and a triple in the game. 

Allen Jimenez. MIF. Miami Sunset HS, FL
The 6-foot, 175-pound middle infielder showed good actions in the pro-style with soft hands that worked out in front of him. He had a bit of a hitch in the arm action, topping out at 72 mph across this infield. The right-handed hitter showed an aggressive approach in the game, generating a lot of bat speed. Although there is some swing and miss, with better use of the lower half he should be able to create a more consistent path through the zone and finds more consistent barrel which will lead to gap-to-gap power.

Joshua LaPrest. 3B. University HS,FL.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound third baseman showed good hands and a good arm topping out at 81 mph across the diamond. He has a good frame with room to fill out. Offensively, he hits with rhythm and a leg kick. He can get long at time, but has quick hands through the zone. When he stays short to the ball, he shows some pull side pop. He produced with two singles in the game play as well as an exit velocity of 90 mph. As he continues to fill out and be more consistently short to the ball , he should hit with some power at the next level.

Nicholas Mackedon. MIF/RHP. The First Academy, FL.
The 6-foot-1. 175-pound MIF/RHP has an athletic and projectable frame. During the pro-style workout he worked under control through the baseball and showed an accurate arm across the infield. Offensively, he showed a pull side approach in batting practice with an ability to consistently find the barrel. In the game he showed a level line drive swing with a base hit and some pop with a deep fly ball to center. On the mound showed his athleticism. The arm action was short and compact, had a tendency to get on the side of the baseball a little bit missing armside. Fastball sat 78-80 mph and the curveball was clocked at 60 mph 

Christian Millan. 1B/RHP. Sickles HS, FL
The 6-foot, 178-pound 1B/RHP showed average hands at first base during the pro-style workout with his throws topping out at 79 mph. The right-handed hitter has a short stride and not much lower half utilization, but has some quick hands and gap-to-gap power. This led to an exit velocity of 83 mph. 

Dante' Moran. MIF. Dixie Hollins HS, FL.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound middle infielder showed that his hands worked well in the pro-style workout while topping out at 78 mph across the infield. At the plate, the right-handed hitter showed a simple set-up with a level line drive swing with a pull side approach. He also showed quick hands through the zone and when he stayed balanced and used his lower half he sprayed hard line drives. He also produced an exit velocity of 81 mph off of the tee.

Bobby Spitulski. 3B. Bishop Moore HS, FL.
The lean 6-foot-2, 192-pound third baseman looks the part with room to continue to fill out. Defensively in the pro-style workout look very solid with his hands working well out in front of his body and under control. He also showed a strong accurate arm across the infield. At the plate, the right-handed hitter showed a feel for the barrel in batting practice. He does not have much of a load, but has a level line drive path through the zone with some bat speed. With better use out of the lower half and the quality path through the zone he will generate some gap-to-gap power.

Matthew Sprinkle. MIF. Southwest Miami HS, FL.
The 5-foot-11, 145-pound switch hitting middle infielder showed solid action at short during the pro-style event. His hands worked well and topped out at 73 mph across the infield. At the plate, the switch hitter looked a little more comfortable from the left side showing a better feel for the barrel and more rhythm in the setup and swing. From the right side, he showed a good path through the zone. He had an exit velocity of 75 mph from the right side and 74 mph from the left side. The swing path works and will produce more as he becomes stronger. 

Christopher Valencia. MIF. St. Thomas Aquinas HS, FL.
The 5-foot-7, 168-pound middle infielder showed a quick first step in the pro-style workout portion with throws topping out at 72 mph across the infield. He also ran a 7.75 60 yard dash. Offensively, hitting from the left side with an extremely open stance he creates a lot of movement during his trigger, but showed quick hands through the zone. The level line drive path created an exit velocity of 80 mph off of the tee and a base hit in the game. 

Leo Wagner. MIF. J.W. Mitchell HS, FL.
The 5-foot-7, 120-pound middle infielder moved well in the pro-style workout showing average hands and actions. In the game he made the majority of the plays with multiple opportunities with only one error. He topped out with accurate throws at 75 mph across the infield. Offensively he showed a level swing with an early load. He tended to get long at time and needs to continue to get stronger topping out with a 72 mph exit velocity off of the tee.